Milk allergy or dairy intolerance

[Loulou85x]

Hi all,

My little girl is 7 weeks old and we are currently having troubles with her feeding and digestion. 80% of her poops are explosive and have mucus in but range from orange/ yellowy. She gets really bad stomach ache when she passes wind or bowel movements. She is also hungry a lot. The drs said she might have a milk allergy and to cut it out. I cut it out a week ago and it seems to have made a little difference. However, for some reason I am not getting much milk tonight and she is frustrated as she is so hungry. I am trying to pump and nothing is coming out and she's feeding for 40 mins and still hungry.

I was going to go to the shops and buy some lactose free milk to tide us over and wanted to ask if any of you had similar symptoms and the lactose free milk helped, or whether I shouldn't risk it in case it's a milk allergy? Thanks in advance XXxx

Keeping your milk supply up whilst being dairy free is really hard, particularly if you are small and skinny to start with. I also had a really hungry baby. To get your milk supply up again you need to do nothing other than eating and feeding your baby. No housework, no going out, no exercise, no looking after other children. It's nigh on impossible unless you have really supportive friends and family, particularly as by 7 weeks your partner will probably have gone back to work.

In terms of high calorie things you can eat, I found oat milk the best milk alternative. Nuts are good and any carbohydrate. I ate a lot of toast with dairy free spread. Most bourbon biscuits are dairy free!

The other thing that could be happening with your baby is that she may also be soya intolerant and therefore using soya alternatives to dairy products doesn't help. As others have said, lactose free won't help as it's likely the cow's milk protein your DD is allergic to.

Having a cows milk protein intolerant baby is hard work. I'm only just coming out the other side of it now my son is 3 and we're starting to introduce cows milk. I never found HV very helpful but there is a CMPA support website which is fairly good.

I'm not sure being dairy free in itself effects supply, My friend was dairy free and her son was on the 90th percentile for weight and was ebf. I've found this thread for you. You might find your supply is fine.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/9388

try kellymom- it's very useful too for b feeding info.

Being dairy free whilst bf doesn't affect your supply but it does limit your calorie intake which can affect your supply. My son was on the 75 centile for weight and he was ebf but there were times when all I could do was feed him and me. The mornings my older son was in nursery I just sat in bed and fed the baby.

IT hasn’t the dairy free diet which educed my supply but rather a symptom of my baby’s comfort suckling without actually drinking and swallowing. In the early days it was hard to tell the difference. So I actually went about a week I think where she barely drank - weiaght loss and dry nappies.

Try following dairy free baby and me on Facebook. Great for dairy free foods. I also followed accidentally vegan for some surprising foods and inspiration.

I was dairy free for 10 months and it is perfectly doable but takes time to get used to. I gave my baby a single bottle of neocate a day from about a month in addition to BFing. The reason being that dairy free formula is bitter to the taste so often rejected by older babies - I wanted to BF but also wanted options should it all get too much.

I have an older child and managed fine. My supply balanced out once we worked out what the issue was and took measures.

I lost some weight which was no bad thing.

but there were times when all I could do was feed him and me. The mornings my older son was in nursery I just sat in bed and fed the baby.

Isn't that the experience of most b feeding mums? B feeding is tough!

@rubyroot Exactly right! I probably just noticed how hard it was more the 2nd time because of toddler + CMPA baby. Unfortunately, there is seldom the support for bf women to be able to focus solely on bf as partner needs to go back to work after only 2 weeks and family may not be around to help.

@rubyroot it really is tough isn't it! Much harder than I imagined!

@Passmethecrisps yes, she is comfort feeding a lot of the time. It's so difficult, I just don't know if it's an allergy, an intolerance, reflux, if I have too much foremilk, if she isn't feeding correctly. So many things it could be! The pooh explosions have never been green which I know is an indicator, however they do small sour! X

Op could you go to to your local La Leche League meeting?

They're usually much more help than gp's or hv for bf issues.

Hi OP!

I’ve not read the whole thread but we suspected the same when DD was a few months old. I completely cut out dairy and soy (which is most commonly a substitute for dairy but they can also be allergic to it) from my diet and saw an improvement quickly. Although this was around 4 months so it could have just been colic that stopped. The doctor also prescribed a formula milk for cows milk allergy so I had that in the house just in case- you can buy it in the supermarket but it is expensive.

DD is now 6 months old and I am still breastfeeding. I have to check the packet if I eat anything now, it was hard at first but I to used to it. We tried yogurt and had a bad reacting and have been referred to a dietitian which we are waiting for.

I hope you are able to sort it out. I know how difficult it is to see them in pain.

Hi @PerfectPeony how quickly did you notice it made a difference after cutting out dairy?? My DD is still having some explosion poops and with mucus in but not all. What were your daughters symptoms before cutting it out?? Xx

It is dead hard loulou. I have had two allergy babies and still find myself doubting myself as the symptoms can be subtle.

The term intolerance doesn’t seem to be used anymore like it was when my 6 year old was tiny. So there are now two kinds of allergy an ige response which tends to be auto-immune and daily immediate. So what we think of as kore typical allergy responses. Non-Ige is what was called an intolerance a few years ago. So non-immediate and more gut-based.

So ige - wheezing, skin rashes, hives and so on.

Non-ige - sore stomach, bowel changes weight changes etc.

You could give your baby normal formula now but all you would rule out would be an ige response if she didn’t react immediately. Dairy and soy take weeks to leave the system fully but in my case both my daughters showed signs of improvement within days of dairy being removed from their food source.

My eldest was formula fed exclusively which in some ways was easier as I could relax about my own diet. I found weaning a trauma though as I wasn’t used to it all and it felt a big issue.

My younger duaghter was BF and once I got used to label checking I found it fairly straightforward. I was given dairy accidentally a couple of times and that’s upsetting and frustrating but not the end of the world. It causes maybe a day or two of unsettled baby.

You mentioned reflux as well. My first had terrible reflux which took a Long time and lots of medication to resolve. We got there though.

When you are in the thick of it everything feels so hard. You will work it out though. Best of luck

Please do call our helpline tomorrow for advice and support www.allergyuk.org

My second child's only symptoms were green explosive mucous nappies.

My 4th child who has cmpa plus egg, soy and peanut allergies (that we know of still trying to get to the bottom of all of them) has way more symptoms. Hives, bad eczema, cradle cap, weepy eye, generally being unsettled, back arching, excessive flatulence, green explosive mucousy nappeis that occasionally have a vinegary smell, mucous and poor weight gain.

I noticed small improvements from a few days after cutting dairy but not all of his symptoms went straight away.

The hardest bit is working out what the issue is.

Mucous should have been reflux

80% of her poops are explosive and have mucus in but range from orange/ yellowy.

This sounds normal for a b/fed baby? Their poos ar meant to be mustard coloured, I’d describe that as orange/yellow. Often b/f babies poos look mucousy because of the consistency. It can also be normal for b/fed baby to have mucous in their poo. She sounds like she’s just cluster feeding as she’s going through a growth spurt. Lots of babies also have digestive issues when they are tiny. Windamd some reflux is also not uncommon. I honestly wouldn’t be panicking about allergies at this stage.

Also totally normal for b/fed poo to smell sour. That is the exact word I would use to describe baby poo actually. Sort of sour yeasty smelling.

Lou Lou it was a terrible high pitch cry that was inconsolable. Literally screaming for hours- wouldn’t be put down. Or even let you sit down! She was stiff as a board. I would always think she was hungry but she wouldn’t feed properly. She was sick a lot too. Looking back I think she was possibly overtired a lot too, but had a lot of tummy problem which meant she couldn’t sleep.

She’s still quite high maintenance now but not inconsolable like she is when she’s had dairy!

Also just to add- it’s hard to say how quickly she improved but I’d say within about 1-2 weeks.

My 6 month old DD got very poorly at around 6 weeks. Hers is non IgE. Her skin was shocking (so bad the GP prescribed a steroid), her tummy was agony and she wouldn't stop screaming. It was truly awful, and I felt on the verge of PND. I cut out dairy and it helped massively. Her skin was noticeably better after just a few days. She's now 6 months, and on the advice of a dietician, I am very slowly reintroducing dairy into my diet, starting with non fresh dairy (eg a biscuit). She is also now combi fed and having some prescribed formula.

@kafkooks @Loulou85x it’s very tough and unfortunately the midwives are so busy trying to encourage people to do it they forget to tell you how tough it is. It got better around 3 months when baby didn’t need to feed as much- though the sleepless nights didn’t stop then.

@Tinyteatime I did wonder the same- sounded like normal breastfed pooh. My baby poohed about ten times a day and seven weeks and it was sometimes green- not an indicator of cmpa on its own.

@Loulou85x hi OP, had a quick skim through the comments since my last comment but couldn't see if anyone had answered your question yet; please don't try her with a dairy formula as a test. I get how badly you want a definitive answer, believe me, but I've also seen the effects of giving milk to a CMPA baby and it's not worth the risk. IF she's CMPA, her reaction to your breast milk will be mild compared to having dairy directly, and she could suffer with anaphylaxis, hives, swelling, sneezing etc plus the gastro issues later. You won't have any piriton prescribed yet so it'd be a trip to a&e and it isn't worth it. Obviously this is worst case scenario but it's very possible.

Personally, I wanted to carry on breastfeeding so for me I cut out dairy altogether (and preferred oat milk to soya so cut that out too, and egg once I realised that was another culprit) and fed through the bad nappies and discomfort until things started to improve. It can take a while so don't be disheartened, you don't have to top up with formula but feed often and on demand if you don't think she's gaining as much as she should be. Absolutely don't worry if you're not pumping as much as you'd expect either, breast pumps aren't indicative of supply and your baby is much more effective at withdrawing milk from the breast than a pump. The main CMPA baby group on Facebook I'm on also has a sister group for breastfeeding mums and people post all sorts of alternative dairy products on there if you need inspiration and it's a lovely helpful group so I'd really recommend that. And UKBAPS - UK breastfeeding and parenting support - is another Facebook group that gave me great advice around breastfeeding x

Hi Op - I have a son who is allergic to dairy and he was diagnosed at 9 weeks of age. I was breast feeding so removed all dairy from my diet and the general rule is that it takes 6 weeks before the baby’s system will be clear of dairy so to allow this length of time for an improvement.

The term dairy intolerance is no longer used becsuse if a baby can’t have dairy they are allergic to it, not just intolerant. The term “allergic” used to refer to an anaphylactic type reaction whereas the “intolerance” term was used to label the other symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea, reflux, eczema etc etc. They are all now under the same unberela of any allergy to the protein regardless of how the reactions presents.

A lot of people get confused with lactose free and dairy free and believe them to be the same thing. My husband once came home with lacto-free butter because he thought it would be okay and I had to explain to him that our son was allergic to dairy, not lactose.

Also - soya proteins are very similar to the proteins in cow’s milk so most breast feeding mothers have to remove soya out of their diet as well as milk.

Most baby with allergies also have reflux and require medication for it, usually ranitidine or omeprazolr, so it may by worth speaking to your GP about that to control the pain.

Please don’t give your baby normal formula because if she does have an allergy then it is likely to cause her so much pain and lead to a lot of problems. If your baby can’t handle dairy via your breast milk then the repercussions of her having it directly can be quite severe.

My CMPA son is 16 months old now and on Thursday my father in law decided to give him a few Maltesers as “a treat” (his words) and my son is still paying the price 3 days on. It started with the stomach pains and cramps on Thursday night, crying for hours on end, woke up Friday with an horrendous cough, sneezing, running nose, big circles under his eyes (typical reactions to dairy) and very unhappy. On Saturday he started with the vomiting and the bad nappies and he’s barely eaten all weekend because of his stomach pains. The reason I’m awake now at 3am is because I’m up with him still writhing around and whimpering with stomach cramps, it’s heart breaking.

If you want formula then either pay for it (Nutramigen, Neocate or Aptamil Pepti) or see your GP for a prescription.

My little boy had a cmpa but I didn't really notice it too much but it was one day when his wind really did smell like a 40 year old who had just had a curry I cut out dairy and I noticed a difference the next day.
He had some HIPP milk later down the line and came out with a reaction immediately!

Hi everyone, I have been off cows milk and have an appt on Monday to reintroduce it slowly into my diet. However, my mum made me a cup of tea this morning and accidentally used normal milk I've been thinking LO was fine and then half an hour ago she was screaming with belly ache and pooh explosions again. This was her one of her poohs, (sorry if TMI) would you say it looks mucusy? They've not been like this with that shiny ness since I cut it out. XX